


After Cranesmuir

by gotham_ruaidh



Series: Gotham Writes for Imagine Claire & Jamie [7]
Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-25 05:25:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4948354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotham_ruaidh/pseuds/gotham_ruaidh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU In which Claire is pregnant during the witch trial and Jamie doesn't find out until she tells him who she really is</p>
            </blockquote>





	After Cranesmuir

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt sent in to [ Imagine Claire & Jamie](http://imagineclaireandjamie.tumblr.com/post/130622374401/the-droughtlander-struggle-is-real-thank-you-from) on tumblr. I'm posting my Imagine prompts here on AO3 for easier reading and in case there's anyone here who might not be on tumblr. Do feel free to check out the blog and send in prompts if you have more ideae for our favorite pair!

The campfire crackled, casting sparks high into the chilly night air. Jamie drew his sleeping wife closer against him, drawing her away from the flames – drawing her closer to him.

He’d started the day at a smaller, lonelier campfire – half-mad with worry, hoping against hope that he’d make it to Cranesmuir in time to – well, in time to do something, anything to save Claire. He had, thank God. But not before she’d been flogged – not before that real witch had had to sacrifice herself.

And then in the quiet, leafy glade as he tended to his wife’s wounds, Claire had told him the truth of who she really was. Of _what_ she really was.  That was difficult enough to understand – but she also told him she was pregnant. _Pregnant_. It was early days yet – but she was confident. And after he had thought on it, and counted up the weeks since their hasty marriage - _a Dhia_ , the bairn had to have been made on their wedding night.

So here they were – both on the run for being things that they were not, him a thief and murderer, her a witch. No place was safe. He had vowed to protect her – and though he knew she’d never admit it, she relied on him for that protection. Yet he had failed her. Circumstances being what they were, something would come between them again – and he would fail her again.

Jamie inhaled the musk of Claire’s hair. Sleepily she nuzzled against his neck, safe under the shelter of their shared plaid. Gently he ran one hand down the front of her ruined shift to rest on her belly, cupping it slightly.

And now a bairn to think of. The fulfillment of their blood vow – the mingling of his blood and bone with hers. He wanted to laugh, to cry, to pick Claire up in his arms and twirl her around like they were children. She had cried when she told him today, and he’d just held her, stroking her hair, murmuring to her in the _Gaidhlig_.

He closed his eyes and kissed her temple. He could see it now – a wee son toddling through the dooryard at Lallybroch, Claire and Mrs. Crook close behind. A wee daughter snuggled in bed between her parents in the laird’s room, waking him with soft, sloppy kisses and giggles.

But how could he keep them safe? How could he keep Claire from harm, and the child from knowing want? It was too dangerous here – for her, and for the bairn. Any child of hers would always be in danger, as long as Claire herself was in danger. He couldn’t care for her – for them – in the way they deserved. Not when he knew there was a safer place she could go.

That settled it. There was no other choice. He’d take her back to the stones, back to her husband. Back to a safer time and place, where they needn’t be on the run. Where she could raise the bairn in peace.

Oh, it would tear his soul in two, to let her go. But it wasn’t just about him anymore.

Claire shifted in her sleep, her warm breath soothing against the open neck of Jamie’s shirt. Jamie held her close, tears slipping silently down his face to mingle with her hair, sparking in the firelight.


End file.
